Re: [xmca] Vygotsky on "defectology"

From: Mike Cole (lchcmike@gmail.com)
Date: Sun Dec 17 2006 - 08:01:11 PST


Hi Katrina-- I hope to have the article up on the XMCA papers for discussion
page along
with the two LSV chapters by monday afternoon.

My guess is that the persistent ideology of symptom-oriented research runs
much
deeper than the failure to discover Vygotsky. Some scholars/medical works
HAVE
discovered and used and even sought to propogate resocouce-oriented models.
Luria
of course comes to mind, but I would include here the work of Lucia Braga in
Brazil,
Kiyoshi Amano in Japan, and others. And, lets not forget the work of
Mescheryakov
and the Russian defectologists themselves. Or, the work of those who have
fought
for the recognition of American and other national sign languages.

Just a quick guess, but it seems that the symptom-oriented approach is
simultaneously
biologically reductionist and social systems maintaining (there is parallel
here with the
discussion of socialization theories and zopeds) such that society can
warehouse such
people or find technical "fixes" in cases such as use of
medication/tranquilization, cochlear
implants. After all, why should "normal" people use THEIR resources to help
develop the
humanity in those who do not fall within the desired range of acceptibility?
Isn't that just
bleeding heart liberalism or misguided humanism?

(Please read those last sentences as ironic. In trying to express my thought
I have violated
the rule of email that irony is not well marked and can cause serious
problems of misunderstanding
if not clearly indicated).

In my part of the world, there is a growing ACADEMIC movement referred to as
"disability studies."
I think this would be an excellent group to be in contact with, but I have
been unable to stir up
much local interest among my local colleagues who are disability studies
activitist scholars.
mike

On 12/17/06, Katarina Rodina <katarina.rodina@isp.uio.no> wrote:
>
> Hi Mike,
>
> i send you my article (this is a short version, more about this in my
> chapter for a book by Siebert (Hrsg.) (2007, in press), see this in the
> article
> references). Please open attachment.
>
> Yes, I complitely agree with you about "what he would
> have thought of entitling a journal on this topic "Special Needs
> Education". Seems a little counter to his views at first glance. Evidence
> from my research in the field of defectology (special education & special
> psychology) indicates that the paradigm has de facto not changed in
> relation to people (children) with disabilities. It is very interesting
> that Vygotsky in the 1930s wrote about changing paradigms from biological
> (symptom-oriented) models of disability to a sociocultural understanding &
> salutogenetical (resource-oriented) model.
>
> But today, theory & praxis in special education and special psychology is
> still dominated by symptom-oriented approaches in the study, upbringing
> and learning of disabled children. The result is that inclusive education
> becomes a kind of ideological (theoretical) myth because of a lack of
> methodological & theoretical basis. Lots of qualitative research suggest
> that disabled children are not "getting rooted in the culture" (cf.
> Vygotsky 1929) in inclusive classrooms with their normal developing peers.
>
> Is this a result of the "undiscovered", "defectological" Vygotsky?
>
> Katarina R.
>
>
> On Sat, December 16, 2006 22:52, Mike Cole wrote:
> > Hi Katerina--
> >
> > Yes, it seems as if it would be very helpful to have your article along
> with
> > the two
> > Vygotsky chapters to enrich a discussion on defectology. I wonder what
> he
> > would
> > have thought of entitling a journal on this topic "Special Needs
> Education."? Seems
> > a little counter to his views at first glance.
> > mike
> >
> > PS-- Send along the article and we will get it posted asap
> >
> > On 12/16/06, Katarina Rodina <katarina.rodina@isp.uio.no> wrote:
> >> Mike,thank you. I`m interested in methodology in the
> cultural-historical
> >> and activity approach to ontogeny and disontogeny, and their
> interaction
> >> from a theoretical point of view. Na etu temu u menja - statya
> >> (manuscript
> >> submitted for publication for publication in The European Journal of
> Special Needs Education, 2007)
> >> Title:
> >> "Vygotsky`s Social Constructionist View on Disability: A Methodology
> for
> >> Inclusive Education"
> >> Abstract:
> >> This article analyses Vygotsky`s social constructionist view on
> disability
> >> and its practical implementation in contemporary inclusive education.
> The
> >> article focuses on the main concepts in Vygotsky`s theory on
> >> dysontogenesis
> >> (presented as a social constructionist view on disability),
> constituting
> >> the cultural-historical psychological basis for the Russian model in
> the
> >> contemporary inclusive preschool education. In this article a short
> presentation of methodological basis of special education in Russia
> will
> >> be given. The aim with the article is to cover following questions: 1)
> What is the core of the social constructionist understanding of
> learning
> >> and development in
> >> dysontogenesis? 2) How can we achieve an appropriate understanding of
> handicaps as a socio-cultural developmental phenomenon in accordance
> with
> >> Vygotsky`s social constructionist views on disability? 3) How may
> Vygotsky`s theory on dysontogenesis be implemented in
> >> contemporary inclusive classrooms?
> >> If you find this article interesting, I can send you the full text
> version
> >> of the article.
> >> Best regards,
> >> Katarina
> >> On Thu, December 14, 2006 18:46, Mike Cole wrote:
> >> > At the inspiration of Katrina, I have had the introduction and first
> >> chapter
> >> > of Vygotsky's work on defectology, vol 2 of collected works,
> >> > placed on the "papers for discussion" part of the xmca web page. The
> >> issues
> >> > Katrina raised are very important but it seemed that it
> >> > would be difficult to have proper discussion if many xmca members
> >> could
> >> not
> >> > get access.
> >> >
> >> > I had to refresh my page to see the articles. You may need to do the
> >> same.
> >> >
> >> > We are also hoping that Erlbaum will soon post the article for
> >> discussion
> >> > from MCA by Cobb and colleagues. They have been slow
> >> > to respond. But we will keep after them!
> >> > mike
> >> > _______________________________________________
> >> > xmca mailing list
> >> > xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
> >> > http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
> >> >
> >> --
> >> Katarina A. Rodina
> >> MSc in Speech-Language Therapy,
> >> PhD-Research Fellow,
> >> Department of Special Needs Education
> >> University of Oslo
> >> P.O.Box 1140 Blindern
> >> NO-0318 OSLO,Norway
> >> Phone: +47 22 85 81 38
> >> Fax: +47 22 85 80 21
> >> E-mail: katarina.rodina@isp.uio.no
> >> Head of Russo-Norwegian Academic Cooperation,
> >> Herzen State Pedagogical University
> >> St.Petersburg, Russia
> >> E-mail: ro-dina@mail.ru
> >> tlf: +47 41 108 408
> >> http://www.herzen.spb.ru
> >
>
>
> --
> Katarina A. Rodina
> MSc in Speech-Language Therapy,
> PhD-Research Fellow,
> Department of Special Needs Education
> University of Oslo
> P.O.Box 1140 Blindern
> NO-0318 OSLO,Norway
> Phone: +47 22 85 81 38
> Fax: +47 22 85 80 21
> E-mail: katarina.rodina@isp.uio.no
>
> Head of Russo-Norwegian Academic Cooperation,
> Herzen State Pedagogical University
> St.Petersburg, Russia
> E-mail: ro-dina@mail.ru
> tlf: +47 41 108 408
> http://www.herzen.spb.ru
>
>
>
>
>
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